(6 Mar 2017) LEADIN:
Millions of Palestinians live as refugees across the Middle East.
In Lebanon, a recent outbreak of violence in a refugee camp has shone a light on the harsh conditions.
STORYLINE:
Burj El Barajneh camp - home to close to 18,000 Palestinian refugees.
According to the UN, it's the most overpopulated camp in the Beirut area.
And while much attention is on the influx of Syrian refugees in recent years, these Palestinians have been refugees for generations.
The camp was set up in 1948 to house those who fled or were forced from their homes during the Arab-Israeli war.
4.7 million Palestinian refugees are now scattered across the Middle East, mainly in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
And despite spending decades living in exile, people like Mohamad Zabouti still dream of returning home.
"I want to go back to my country, that's it," he says.
"I have been living here all this time, no work, nothing, no medicine, no medical treatment."
Conditions in Burj El Barajneh are harsh.
And Lebanese law restricts some professions only to natives of the country.
It means most Palestinians are forced to survive on UN agency handouts and payments from rival Palestinian factions.
Those who have jobs are generally either employed by the UN agency UNRWA or in unskilled jobs, such as construction labourers.
Refugee Maryam Naje says no one is happy living here.
"I wish I could go to Palestine and die there," she says.
Last week, violence broke out at another Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
Clashes at Ein el-Hilweh camp left several people injured and one dead, according to Lebanon's official news agency.
Mustafa Barghouti, PLO Executive Committee Member, says the conditions in camps like Ein el-Hilweh puts the refugees security "at risk".
"These attacks should stop immediately and we know that the only solution to end the suffering of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and elsewhere is by their return to their homeland that they were uprooted from."
The fate of the refugees is one of the most emotionally charged issues in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Palestinian negotiators have demanded at least partial repatriation, but Israel has refused, saying an influx of refugees would dilute its Jewish majority and threaten the existence of the state.
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